


Two Floors Up

by kara-lesbihonest (mxfivespot)



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Comfort, F/F, First Meetings, Injury Recovery, accidental breaking and entering, blackmail but for romance so it's okay, kara was never cat's assistant, the effects of kryptonite, wrong apartment right girl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8988244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxfivespot/pseuds/kara-lesbihonest
Summary: AU Kara was never Cat's assistant. One night, after a hard rescue, Kara thinking she's flying into Alex's apartment, accidentally flies right into Cat's apartment, which is two floors up.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gertiemcfuzz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gertiemcfuzz/gifts).



> gertiejo, I hope you enjoy. Happy holidays!

The night had run Kara ragged. She was flying in lazy waves, dropping down and pulling herself up again repeatedly, unable to hold a steady line. The National City wind was cold and unforgiving as she pushed through the invisible currents in the sky. There had been kryptonite and crashing, so much crashing before finally they had the alien contained.

She’d left Alex and the rest of the team at the scene, and even though she’d wrestled the threat to the ground it felt like a failure not to stay and help with the cleanup. But she was useless now, barely able to hold herself together. She would be more use tomorrow when she was rested, Alex had told her. For once, Kara agreed.

She stumbled onto Alex’s balcony just as the final ability for flight leached out of her muscles and dissipated. She was relieved to stand on her own two feet. She pushed the doors open with a bit more force than was necessary and stepped into the apartment.

Across the darkened living room standing in the glow of a kitchen night light, a blond she didn’t recognize spun and dropped the teacup she was holding. It crashed to the floor and shattered, and the woman backed up against the counter, gripping the edge with both hands. Kara stopped in her tracks, confused, her head so fuzzy that she was unable to make sense of the sight before her. All her uncooperative brain could conjure was, “That is so weird. Alex doesn’t have a night light.”

The woman stared in wide-eyed panic, frozen. The tea kettle started to whistle insistently and steam rose from behind her. Kara felt the cold breeze kick up from the still-open door and her cape fluttered comfortingly behind her, billowing a bit.

The blond’s eyes darted down and back up again, and her tension eased ever so slightly. A flash of recognition crossed her features, one Kara had seen many times on the faces of citizens who suddenly understood who she was.

“Are you… are you Supergirl?” the woman asked, and it was highly accusatory. “What the hell are you doing in my house?”

Kara was at the end of her strength. She felt like water was rushing past her ears; everything started to swim around her. The last thing she heard was “Goddamnit be careful of the coffee table!” as she crashed through glass and wood and everything went dark.

* * *

When she finally came to, the first thing she noticed was the pounding throb in her head. _God, how do humans ever stand it_ , she thought grumpily. The second thing she noticed was a pair of startling green eyes staring at her from a chair near the bed. Bed?

“Who… who are you?” Kara rasped out, and the woman put down her book and leaned forward.

“‘I’m Cat, and want to know why you’re in my house.”

Kara slowly pushed herself into a sitting position on the bed - this woman’s bed, she now realized - and put a hand to her forehead. She turned to look at Cat.

“Isn’t this… I thought I was in my sister’s apartment. Is this not… do you know my sister?” Kara was thinking hard now, trying to work through it. “Is this 2B?”

“This is 4B. Are you hurt?” Cat only looked mildly interested in the answer.

Finally Kara understood. Confused and weak from the kryptonite, she’d broken into this poor woman’s apartment by mistake. Just two floors up from Alex, but a world away from her safe landing spot.

“I’m okay, really,” Kara said as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her suit slid pleasingly against the blue satin sheets as she moved. “I’m very sorry. I’ll pay for the damage to your door and replace your table. I hope you can forgive me, it was an honest mistake.”

With fearless purpose, Cat shot out a hand and pushed against her shoulder to keep her from getting up. Kara allowed the gesture to keep her still. She looked up into Cat’s eyes again, surprised at the contact.

“I don’t care about the door. What I want to know is what makes Supergirl… like this? I thought you couldn’t get hurt.” Cat’s eyes narrowed sharply, chasing her scoop.

Kara had been in the superhero business long enough to recognize that look.

“Are you a reporter, Miss... Cat?” she asked. Her tone had changed completely. Despite the intimate setting, the smell of Cat’s sheets and the low light of the bedside lamp, she suddenly sounded professional and a bit distant.

Kara stood and Cat’s hand fell away. Cat followed Kara from the room.

“No, I’m not. Well, not really. I’m Cat Grant.”

That stopped Kara dead in her tracks. She turned, a panicked look on her face. “THE Cat Grant? The CEO of CatCo?”

Cat couldn’t keep the satisfied smirk off her face. “You’ve heard of me?” she said with an arched eyebrow, and Kara rolled her eyes.

“Of course I’ve heard of you. The woman behind the newspaper that has been making Supergirl’s life a living hell ever since she first showed up in National City. You’ve been _personally_ penning editorials about my… misadventures. I can’t believe this,” Kara sighed. Cat didn’t bother to defend herself - the girl wasn’t wrong.

“Miss Grant, I understand you have a job to do. But I’m asking you… please don’t report that there’s a way to weaken Supergirl. Please.”

Cat walked toward her, invading her personal space and considering her words. For the first time, Kara noticed that Cat was only wearing a thin bathrobe, short enough to hit above her knee and wrapped enough to just cover a white camisole underneath. Kara shifted from one foot to the other.

“What can you offer me in exchange?” Cat asked. “If I did agree to never print that little detail.”

Kara crossed her arms over the symbol on her chest, willing it to give her strength. “What do you want, Miss Grant?”

“Three things. One, you agree to sit down to an exclusive interview with me for the Tribune.”

“Fine,” Kara agreed.

“Two, you explain how you ended up like this, off the record.”

Kara sighed in defeat. “Fine. And the third thing?”

“You come back here tomorrow night for dinner. Just the two of us. I’ll cook.” Cat glanced down ever so slightly, and Kara almost couldn’t believe the break in confidence.

“Miss Grant are you… blackmailing me for a date?” Her eyes were mirthful and amused.

Cat tugged her robe tighter around herself and raised her chin defiantly. “I don’t blackmail people for dates. Not even Supergirl. So that third one can be negotiable.”

Kara stepped forward. She didn’t know what came over her, but she reached up and tucked a lock of Cat’s hair behind her ear. Later, she could easily blame this on the residual weakness of the kryptonite or the knock to her head when she destroyed Cat’s table, but right now it felt like the only thing in the world she wanted to do.

“I submit to your terms,” she said. Cat didn’t move or speak. Kara turned, walked away, and leapt off the balcony into the National City night.


End file.
